Process of carbonizing and cooling down the charge.



No. 744,669. PATBNTBD NOV.,17,:1903.'

B. ZWILLINGER. PROCESS OF GARBONIZING AND 000mm DOWN THE CHARGE;

APPLICATION FILED r213. 24.1902. xnnnwnn JUNE 5. 1903. I

.30 MODEL.

WTNFEEES m: Noam: PETERS co. PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, o. c.

UNITED STATES BERNHARD ZWILLINGER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BYMESNE Patented November 17, 1903.

PATE T OFFICE.

ASSIGNMENTS, TO AMERICAN FUEL AND DISTILLATION COMPANY, A CORPORATION OFNEW JERSEY- PROCESS OF CARBONIZING AND COOLING OOWN T-HE CHARGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,669, datedNovember17, 1903.

Application filed February 24, 1902. Renewed June 5, 1903. Serial lie-160,265. (No specimensll I To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LBERNHARD ZWILLINGER, a citizenof the United States,residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes ofOarbon izing and Cooling Down the Charge, ofwhich the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to processes of carbonizing solid materials andrapidly cooling down the charge after carbonization has been In orderthat my invention may be i'ully understood by those skilled in the art,I will proceed to describe onemode of carrying out the same and theapparatus capable of carry{ ing out the said process. It will beunderstood, however, that I do not limit myself to the process setforth, as the process may be practiced otherwise than with the apparatusshown in the drawings. Heretofore in charcoal-kilns it has beencustomary after carbonization of the wood has been effected to close allthe openings of the kiln-and to allow the charge to slowly cool down.This process required from seven to nine days to effect a propercoolingof the charcoal so that the same could be taken out of the kiln withoutbeing attacked by the air and burning up. It has also been proposed.tocool down the charge by the employment of water. This expedient,however, is impracticable for the reason that the water on coming incontact with the hot glowing charcoal would have the effect of causingthe same to partially break and to in somedegree become saturated withwater, which is detrimental, in that this water must afterward be drivenoff, causing a loss of heat. Ithas also beenproposed to cool downkilnsby cooling the walls or bottom thereof. t I i My present processdiofersfrom the'other processes and maybe briefly stated as'em bodyingfor itsessential feature acoolingdown step whereby the charge is cooledby the action of mechanically-propelled cooled permanent gases, whichgases may either be the products of the carbonization of the charge orelse may be inert gases of any desired character. 7

My invention is principally valuable for use with large kilnscontaining, say, one hundred and thirty thousand to two vhundredthousand pounds of wood; but it is to be understood that whilethe'process is principally valuable in connection with kilns handlinglarge bodies of wood or other carbonizable material nothing hereincontained shall be construed as limiting the application of thisinvention to kilns of large capacity.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown in Figure I, diagramaticallyfor the most part, an apparatus adapted to carry out my improvedprocess, and in Fig. II Ihave shown a plan View of the system of pipespreferably employed on the floor of the kiln. A represents anair-compressor which delivers gases into anaccumulator B. The gases arederived from the gasometer G by the aircompressor. 1

O is a suitable heater, which is preferably employed, as will be explaind; although it will be understood that I do'not limit myinvention to anygiven type of'carbouizing apparatus. U

D is the kiln, which'may beof any suitable or preferred construction. Inthe present instance itis shown as of a general dome-shape and providedwith a distributer d, by which permanent gases are received anddistributed to suitable pipes on the floor of the kiln. These pipes areperforated and consist, preferably, of a pipe d, runningcircumferentially of the kiln and having branches d whichextend inwardlytoward the center of thekilnradiallythereof. Theair-compressor A isconnectedby pipe a with the accumulater. B. This accumulator B is shownin the'present instance as connected by pipe 0 with the coil 0 of theheater,'which is in turn connected by pipe 0 with the pipe system in thekiln. Suitable valves are provided for shutting off the heater at theappropriate time. The accumulator B is also connected by pipe I) withthe drum or distributor d in the kiln. It will be understood that thecompressor A forces the inert or permanent gases through the accumulatorB, thence by pipes 7) into the kiln D, whence the gases pass by the pipe6 to a suitable hydraulic main E, if desired, and thence the gases passby a pipef to a suitable condenser and cooler F. This condenser andcooler is shown in the present instance as embodying a tank containing acoil f and adapted to receive a circulation of water or other coolingliquid from tank f it being understood, however, that the illustrationis more or less diagrammatic and that no attempt has been made toaccurately show the proportions of the various parts, it being withinthe skill of a skilful mechanic to properly proportion the various partsone to the other'to obtain the best results. From the condenser F thecooled gases pass by the pipe g into a suitable collecting vessel H onthe principle of the well-known or \Vnlff bottle, which may be providedwith a siphon 7L, having a suitable cock 7L, which cock is closed duringthe normal operation of the cooling process. From the collecting vesselH the gases pass by pipez' to the scrubbers I II. These scrubbers are ofany desired or preferred construction capable of removing from thepermanent gases the last traces of tar and tarryproducts. From thescrubbers the gases pass into the gas-holder or gasometer Gby the plpeIn carrying out the process the wood or other solid substance is firstcarbonized in the kiln D, and when the carbonization is completed theprocess of cooling down begins. In the drawings I have shown a heaterO,which may be used in combination with the kiln to bring thereto a supplyof heated permanent gases for use in the carbonizing process. For thispurpose the pipec is employed and the valves are so manipulated that thepipe I) is out of service. It will be understood, however, that anydesired process of carbonization may be employed. During the process ofcarbonization whenthe heater is employed and gases are blown through theapparatus the permanent gases-the products of the earbonization--areafter the separation from the liquid substances has been effectedcollected in the gasometer G. \Vhen the carbonizat'ion has beencompleted, the flow of hot permanent gases is suspended and thecooling-down process begins. For this purpose the pipe 0 is put out ofaction and the pipe I) is put in action. By this means the permanentgases from the compressor are first caused to pass through theaccumulator B, thence through the pipe I) to the kiln, where they areproperly distributed, to the mass of material in the kiln, passingupward through the same, taking up the heat from the hot mass, which hasthereby cooled down proportionately, and are thereupon passed by thepipe 6 to the hydraulic main and thence to the condenser, where thegases are cooled, and thence pass through the vessel H, and thence bythe pipe t' to the scrubbers I II, depositing there the last traces oftheir tar and tarry residues. The gases thence pass by the pipej to thegasometer G, from which they maybe sucked by the air-compressor A. Itwill be thus seen that the cooled gases are circulated by theair-compressor, taking up and removing the heat units from thecarbonized charge, are cooled and again continuously traverse theircircuit until the carbonized mass has been cooled down to the desireddegree,which will be shown by the pyrometer used in connection with thekiln. By thus proceeding I am enabled to cool down a charge ofcarbonized material with great rapidity, and while it is impossible tostate the results which would be achieved under any given set ofcircumstances I may state that instead of employing from seven to ninedays, as was heretofore necessary when kilns were simply allowed to coolby themselves, the time of cooling a charge of, say, forty thousand tofifty thousand pounds of charcoal-the product of the carbonization ofabout onehundred and sixty thousand to two hundred thousand pounds ofwood--has been reduced by me to one day or less.

The advantages of my process are very numerous and very great. To beginwith, by reducing the time necessary to cool down a charge of charcoalkilns can be employed oftener, and consequently greater duty obtainedfrom any given kiln. Second, by reducing the time of cooling down thetime when the next charge can be inserted will be correspondinglyshortened and a certain amount of the heat in the heater saved for thenext operation of carbonization, it being readily understood that, asthe heater cools down slowly and the kiln is cooled down very rapidly, avery large amount of coal can be saved by reason of the fact that theheater will retain a considerable portion of the stored-up heat.Consequently with any given plant the output can be very materiallyincreased, and as a less number of kilns can be employed to do the workof a much greater number of kilns the amount of capital tied up in anygiven carbonization plant can be greatly reduced.

Having described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-- 1. The herein-described process of producingcarbonized substances, which consists in initially carbonizing the saidsubstances and subsequently, while the charge is still hot, continuouslysubjecting it to the action of mechanically-propelled cooled gases freeof uncombined oxygen, in a greater quantity than the capacityof thecarbonized substances for absorption after cooling and at atmosphericpressure, whereby the charge may be cooled down in a rapid and efficientmanner.

2. The herein-described process of producing carbonized substances,which consists in IIO initially carbonizingthe said substances and ingand at atmospheric pressure, whereby the collecting and storing thepermanent gases charge maybe cooled down in a rapid and [0 derivedtherefrom, and subsequently while efiic'ient manner.

the charge is still hot continuously subjecting r 5 it to the action ofmechanically-propelled BERN-HARD AWILLINGER" cooled gases free ofuncombined oxygen in a Witnesses: Y greater quantity than the capacityof the car- CONRAD KREMP, I bonized substances for absorption aftercool- I GEO. E. MORSE.

